2 nephi 25.23 shafovaloff's egregious errors
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Ye shall know the Truth Ministry
2 Nephi 25:23&Anti-Mormon
FollyBased on False Statements
Made by the So-Called
Mormon Research
MinistrysAbraham Shafovaloff&
Bill McKeever
Copyright 29012 Ye Shall Know the Truth Ministries To Anti-Mormons
Father teach them the truth
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2 Nephi 25:23 & Anti-Mormon FollyBy Ronnie Bray
I have visited MRM's webpage addressing 2 Nephi 25:23
and find them like old geysers, blowing lots of steam,
spray, and spume out of their blowhole in no particular
direction. Their difficulties, all of their own making are
linked to the phrase after all we can do. The following is
the root of their difficulty.
When anyone undertakes to pin down a precise and
unequivocal interpretation to that phrase by means of a
single activity or to a series of activities linked together
they are, in my opinion, stepping outside the remit of the
passage. Let us look at the verse in question:
For we labour diligently to write, to persuade our children,
and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to bereconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace1 that we
are saved, after all we can do.2
Aaron Shafovaloff, speaking for the MRM opines:
2 Nephi 25:23 is a key text by which Mormons identify
and distinguish their view of grace, repentance, works, andmerit. It has consistently functioned in Mormonism as a
text speaking of the prerequisite conditions for receiving
forgiveness, eternal life, and exaltation, although some neo-1 Ps. 130:4 (34); Rom. 3:20 (2024); 7:5; 2 Ne. 2:5 (410); Mosiah 13:32; Alma 42:14 (1216); D&C
20:30; 138:4.2 James 2:24 (1426)
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orthodox Mormon revisionists are attempting to recast it as
being about receiving grace in spite of all the conditions
that we can't fulfil.
Unless Mr Shafovaloff is open to allow Mormons to
determine how that verse has functioned for them he will
have to abandon his pretence of knowing how Mormons
read and view it, and what contribution it makes to their
understanding of what God requires of the faithful as
preconditions for salvation and whether it is a key text for
them, or not.
If we adopt Shafovaloffs obvious view that God imposes
no prerequisites to candidates for salvation, then we have to
abandon the scriptures in favour of the writings of
minimalist theologians whose philosophies of Christianity
have suffered from too wide an attention to a narrowing
and diminishing number of biblical verses at the expense of
many more verses that directly controvert their conclusions.
The challenge before us and them, that is before Latter-day
Saints and Anti-Mormon Christian minimalists, is whether
we accept that the Bible is a guide to faith, and that what
Jesus and the prophets say have any binding power on the
beliefs of those that claim to be disciples of Jesus, to
whether the passages within the Holy Bible are no more
than optional suggestions that may be laid aside if they get
in the way of someones pet theological position.
Mr Shafovaloff continues:
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From General Conference talks that reference this verse,
we glean that all we can do means our own merits, all
we can do to pay to the uttermost farthing and make right
our wrongs, [exert] every ounce of energy, [t]rue andcomplete repentance, repent to fully pay our part of the
debt, giving all that we can give and doing all that we can
do in our present circumstance, and maximum effort.
I can see him stamping his little feet, quite breathless at his
gleanings. He continues,
According to LDS authorities [Which and When?] andchurch-published literature [Which and Where?], these
conditions are necessary prerequisites to receive the
fullness of the Lord's grace and be made worthy to dwell
with him, to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation, to
go into the celestial kingdom, to have the Saviours
magnificent Atonement [pay] the rest of [our] debt, to
have God take away our stain, and to get God to take[sins] away from our hearts.
The gentleman has now met himself coming back. For if
he argues, and he does argue most forcibly, that this verse
is interpreted by Latter-day Saint authorities to mean that a
Mormon must earn his or her salvation by their continuous
and untiring actions, that he lists as:
1. [Earning salvation by dint of] our own merits,
2. all we can do to pay to the uttermost farthing and
make right our wrongs
3. [exerting] every ounce of energy
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4. True and complete repentance,
5. Repenting to fully pay our part of the debt of sin we
owe to God
6. Giving all that we can give and doing all that we cando in our present circumstance,
7. And putting forth maximum effort,
Then I condemn his conclusions as false, crass, and
deliberately misleading. It is hardly surprising, considering
the gentlemans background that he fails to find anything in
Mormonism that argues against his extremism and
distortion.
It is, however, wholly surprising that he seems unaware of
any requirements imposed on Christians by Jesus Christ,
his prophets, and apostles that resembles the spirit of 2
Nephi 25:23 within the boards of his Holy Bible. I
presume he has a Bible.
Let us take Shafovaloffs objections one by one and correct
his misinterpretations by shedding the light of truth on
Mormon belief.
1. [Earning salvation by dint of] our own merits
Do Mormons believe that salvation is dependent on their
own efforts, and is something that they must either earn of
do without? Of course they do, not, and neither does Jesus.
How then does Mr Shafovaloff insist that a person is saved
by doing nothing more than resting on divine Grace?
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Is he aware that when the crowd assembled on the day of
Pentecost asked the apostles,
Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Peter did not say,
You dont have to do one single thing. All you have to do
now is to sit back and take it easy and God will do the rest
for you through Jesus.
Instead of granting them a do-nothing licence, Peter said:
Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.
What! gasps Mr Shafovaloff, eagerly thumbing through
his pristine Bible to find where this verse was hidden. He
told them doDO something? [Acts 2:37-38]
Here was a crowd of about three thousand men of Israel,
convicted by Peters preaching that Jesus was the Christ,
their Messiah, and recognising their mistakes about Jesus,
they were cut to their hearts and needed with all their
beings to make themselves right before God. Hence their
appeal to the Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we
DO?
Peter and the other Apostles knew the answer to their
question, and without hesitating to consult with the
minimalist theologians that were, even then, troubling the
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fledgling Church of Jesus Christ, he spoke with authority
and told them what Jesus had divinely directed him and his
companions to say with the commission and power given to
him at his ordination, under the hands of the Saviour of theworld:
Repent and be baptised, every one of you. And ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost
Bill McKeever, a confederate of Shafovaloff on MRM,
itemises the folly of believing what is written in Acts bylisting it as a new and peculiar heretical teaching of
Alexander Campbell, and one that was not any part of
Historical Christianity. Campbellites are heretics,
McKeever writes, because of their:
Dependence on Acts 2:38 for the sequence of saving
actions, which include faith, repentance, baptism, forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and
appropriate good works to demonstrate persevering to the
end, upon which eternal life can be assured.
Little wonder that my spellchecker wanted to change
McKeever into Makeover! because McKeever castigates
Christians that rely on the sacred scriptures and the words
of Jesus Christ and of the apostles of Jesus Christ, and
arrogantly tags them as heretical beliefs.
To Bible believing Christians, and that includes Mormons,
it is evident that the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ directed
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and approved of their actions and we note that it is the
LORD that added to the Church those that would be saved.
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in theirheart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles,
Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptised every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and toall that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God
shall call.
And with many other words did he testify and exhort,
saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Then they that gladly received his word were baptised: andthe same day there were added unto them about three
thousand souls.
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and
fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and
signs were done by the apostles.
And all that believed were together, and had all things
common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted
them to all men, as every man had need.
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And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple,
and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat
with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, andhaving favour with all the people.
And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be
saved.
This fascinating series of events were driven by the Risen
Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost at the Feast of
Pentecost! What MRM sees as an imposition, is actuallythe word of God to those that would be Christians that the
LORD would save. We ought not to be surprised
although we are! that those that represent themselves as
ministers would turn their back on the divine word, on the
Apostles, and on the activities of the Holy Spirit of God,
and turn their hands to other distortions besides criticising
and finding fault with Historical Christianity.
Dare I suggest that these gentlemen are underemployed and
stuck for something important to say, and so they fit the
mopuld of those against whom the Bible gives us warning
when it tells us that, Also of your own selves shall men
arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples
after them. [Acts 20:30]. This day is this scripture
fulfilled in thy sightby Shafovaloff and McKeever.
It is unavoidable that we recognise that those that should
be saved,were engaged in a series of activities recognised
as appropriate and essential for other Christians to imitate.
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These are listed by Saint Luke as:
1. Repentance2. Baptism by Immersion for the Remission of sins
3. Receipt of the gift of the Holy Ghost by the imposition
of the hands of the Apostles
4. They were also instructed to Save [themselves] from
this untoward generation,a further demand that they
become positive actors in their own salvation after
fulfilling the first fours Apostolic requirements of
Faith, Repentance, Baptism, and receiving the HolyGhost, including:
5. Continuing steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine
6. Enjoying Christian fellowship
7. Breaking bread together in communal meals
8. Prayers the Christians native breath
9. And all that believed were together
10. Having all things common11. Selling their surplus possessions and goods
12. Giving charitable gifts to all men according to need.
13. Continuing daily with one accord in the temple
14. breaking bread from house to house
15. eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart
16. Praising God
17. Having favour with all the people.
18. Being added to the church of God because they would
be saved.
Of this event John Wesley wrote:
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So their [early Christians] daily Church communion
consisted in these four particulars:
1. Hearing the word;2. Having all things common;
3. Receiving the Lord's Supper;
4. Prayer.
Ye diff'rent sects, who all declare,
Lo here is Christ, and Christ is there;
Your stronger proofs divinely give,
And show me where the Christians live![John Wesleys Explanatory Notes on Acts 2]
Obviously they are not found within the confines of the
Mormon Research Ministry
We should not doubt that primitive Anti-Christians accused
Early Christians of being a weird cult that followed a
charismatic leader, and were transformed from what they
had been, faithful Jews, into something novel: for so they
were!
But that into which they were changed was that which was
commanded by God and Jesus Christ. Shafovaloff and
McKeever would have you believe that God and Jesus are
absolutely wrong or else they are misunderstood.
To the Law and Testimony! The call to discipleship
extended to all by Jesus and his representatives to all
mankind is not a call to idleness.
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Christianity is no pipe dream, no pathological affectation of
the mind, but a faith that required all of a man or woman
that there was to them.
Jesus gave more than broad hints when he preached his
Gospel of Salvation, and he did not say, Just leave
everything to me. You sit back and enjoy yourselves,
Watch the parade go by and Ill take care of you when the
time comes!
That kind of religiose minimalist nonsensical theology hasnothing to do with God or Jesus.
What, exactly, did Jesus say he expected from Christians.
Those that preach that all Jesus said about our eternal
salvation was Only believe and do nothing else!
Confess me as your LORD and then you can go to
sleep! Jesus gave a stark warning.
Matthew 7:21-23:
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, [the
Confession of Jesus as LORD] shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Fatherwhich is
in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out
devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
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And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart
from me, ye that work iniquity.
Paul agreed:
"It is not those who hear the law who are righteous in
God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be
declared righteous."Romans 2:13
Jesus commends almsgiving, marking that which is done in
the right spirit as leading to a reward from God.
Matthew 6.1-4:
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen
of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which
is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not
sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory ofmen. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But
when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy
right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy
Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee
openly.
Jesus did not forbid Christians to give alms. He encouraged
almsgiving when it was done in the proper spirit.
In 1 Peter 1:3-6, the head of the College of Apostles gives a
call to action redolent of those given by the master.
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Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind [ACTION!], be
sober[ACTION!], and hope to the end for the grace that
is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ
[ACTION!]; as obedient children [ACTION!], notfashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your
ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so be
ye holy in all manner of conversation [ACTION!];
because it is written,Be ye holy; for I am holy .
Here, Christians are directed to imitate Almighty God. Of
course, Peter, one of the most human of the apostles, knew
that perfection in toto was impossible in this life.
Nonetheless he directs Christians to strive to become
perfect, just as Jesus did in Matthew 5:39, when he charged
Christians,
Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father in heaven is
perfect.
Is this an example of a commandment that cannot be kept?
Does Almighty God make commandments knowing that
frail humanity cannot keep them, or is it merely divine
torment as the Olympian gods employed to sport with
humanity for amusement?
If that is what these Minimalist Anti-Mormon gentlemen
believe, do they also believe that Saint Paul is in on the
joke and that he directly and deliberately set out to mislead
Christians when he wrote,
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There hath no temptation taken you but such as is
common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer
you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with thetemptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able
to bear[withstand] it? [1 Corinthians 10:13]
~~~
2. all we can do [means that Mormons believe we
have] to pay to the uttermost farthing and make right our
wrongs.
Oops! Not even a complete idiot could make that mistake,
and being a professional Anti-Mormon is no excuse for
building a straw man out of fog and mist. I suppose that
makes it a fog and mist man!
Mormons accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Redeemer,and are conscious of the fact that someone that has no debt
for a Redeemer to settle has no need of a Redeemer.
~~~
3. [exerting] every ounce of energy
Latter-day Saints are the first to acknowledge that even if it
were possible to outlive the superhuman effort it would
take to constantly exert every ounce of energy in
worshipping and serving God, no human being could do
enough to save him or herself.
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This is acknowledged by Latter-day Saints in a key
scripture from the second chapter of Mosiah in Book of
Mormon:
20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render
all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power
to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept
and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice,
and has granted that ye should live in peace one with
another
21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has
created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from
day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and
move and do according to your own will, and even
supporting you from one moment to anotherI say, if ye
should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be
unprofitable servants.
Being an unprofitable servant means that no matter what
we do we could not extricate ourselves from the debt we
owe to the LORD for his gift of eternal life. There is not
sense of having to pay the uttermost farthing, or right all
our personal wrongs. If we could do that, then we would
have no need for a Saviour. I have yet to meet a Mormon
that believes they can save themselves except by the Grace
of God and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In gratitude for
these gifts, Mormons worship God and do all they can to be
obedient to the LORD Jesus Christ. That Shafovaloff and
McKeever find cause for derision at our doing so speaks
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volumes about their characters. Nevertheless, nothing they
can invent will ever beat the truth.
The fate of the unprofitable servant in the parable of thetalents is said by Jesus to be consignment,
into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. [Matthew 25:30]
The title, unprofitable servant, is identified in the parable
and in the outstanding commentary, Barnes' Notes on the
Bible, thus:
==============
The spiritual meaning of the parable may be thus summed
up:
1. The servants of God are not all endowed with equal giftsand talents.
2. All, whatever may be their ability, are bound to employ
their talents in promoting his honour, and in a proper
improvement of them.
3. By employing their talents in a proper manner, they
improve and strengthen them.
4. They will be judged according to the improvements
which they have made.
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5. All sinners look on God as a hard master, and as
unreasonable and tyrannical.
6. People will be judged not merely for "doing wrong, butfor neglecting to do right."
7. If the servant who kept the talent entire without injuring
it, and who returned it to his master as he received it, was
nevertheless judged, condemned, and cast away, what must
they expect who abuse their talents, destroy by drunkenness
and lust the noble faculties conferred on them, and
squander the property that might be employed in advancingthe interests of morals and religion!
==============
Clearly, the Reverend Dr Barnes is at odds with MRMs
Anti-Mormon Ministry in its understanding of the Sacred
Scripture, to which, they allege, they look to establish whatthey must do to be saved. Shall we follow the noble Bible
scholar whose life was spent teaching Christians how to be
better Christians. Or shall we follow Shafovaloff and
McKeever into the ditch?
~~~
4. True and complete repentance,
What is true and complete repentance? Is it that course
which, when followed assiduously leads a person out of his
sins and enables him or her to stand purified and righteous
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before God? The use of the word true is an identifier that
someone is using dishonest thinking. Either repentance is
true or else it is not repentance.
When Jesus calls his people to repentance, as he frequently
does, does he call them to true repentance or to an
inferior, sub-standard imitation of repentance? Is a
repentance that is not complete really repentance?
Should Latter-day Saints and other Christians try to use a
non-genuine, moth-eaten repentance that is an attempt to
pull a fast one on Jesus?
That suggestion from the Brothers Grim is reminiscent of
the pagan Omar Khayyams Rubaiyat in which he
excuses his insincere contrition:
Indeed, repentance oft before I swore.
But, was I sober when I swore?And by and by comes Spring with rose in hand
And my threadbare penitence apieces tore!
The words of Christ concerning repentance ring in the ears
of Christians that are not seeking for paltry excuses to do
nothing after they have come to Christ. We look at a few
examples. If we find that they are given to us by an
Insincere Saviour who does not mean what he says, then
we will be right to ignore them and follow Shafovaloff and
McKeever. Otherwise, we should trust and obey, for
theres no other way to be happy with Jesus than to trust
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and obey. That hymn has been sung by Christians for more
than a century.
Hymn No. 467. Trust and Obey
Text: John H. Sammis, 1846-1919
Music: Daniel B. Towner, 1850-1919
1. When we walk with the Lord
in the light of his word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will,he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2. Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
but is blest if we trust and obey.
(Refrain)
3. But we never can prove
the delights of his love
until all on the altar we lay;
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for the favour he shows,
for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will trust and obey.
(Refrain)
4. Then in fellowship sweet
we will sit at his feet,
or we'll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do,
where he sends we will go;
never fear, only trust and obey.
(Refrain)
Latter-day Saints join in wholeheartedly with Mr Sammis, and
believe Jesus when he said it takes more than calling on the name of
the Lord to be saved: Jesus told us it also took obedience to the willof the Father.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Fatherwhich
is in heaven. [Matthew 7:]
One of the things Jesus said was the will of his Father for
Christians is that they should repent.
Remember the height from which you have fallen!Repent
and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I
will come to you and remove your lampstand from its
place. [Revelation 2:5]
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I have given her time to repentof her immorality, but she
is unwilling. I gave her time to repent, but she does not
want to turn away from her immorality. .[Revelation2:21]
"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is
near. Repent and believe the good news!".[Mark 1:15]
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near [Matthew 3:2]
Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard;obey it, and repent. [Revelation 3:3]
Repent therefore! Repent of your sin, or I will come to
you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my
mouth. [Revelation 2:16]
So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met torepent of their sins and turn to God. .[ Mark 6:12]..
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he
commands all people everywhere to repent. [Acts 17:30].
//bible.cc/acts/17-30.htm - 16k
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be
wiped out[Acts 3:19]
Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord.
Acts 8:22
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Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in
the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
And you .shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. [Acts
2:38]
From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is near ... Matthew 4:17
I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all
perish."[Luke 13:5]
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest,and repent. [Revelation 3:19]
Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
Job 42:6
[They] cursed the God of heaven because of their painsand their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had
done. They did not repent of their deeds. [Revelation 16:11]
Who will argue against repentance before and after
becoming a Christian when Jesus speaks so often and so
fittingly of repentance as a principle that all full-hearted
Christians must obey? Will you follow Jesus, or will you
follow false teachers?
~~~
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5. Repenting to fully pay our part of the debt of sin we
owe to God
Again crooked thinking invites us to believe that a debt thatis not paid fully is paid. Crafty use of semantic traps are
the hallmark of the dishonest. God does not require full
payment.
6. Giving all that we can give and doing all that we can
do in our present circumstance,
7. And putting forth maximum effort.
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